Gatun Lake Eco Tour
We spent a leisurely morning watching the birds and admiring the Pamana City skyline, which, despite still being hazy, was much clearer – and quite impressive it is. There were loads of pelicans and smaller birds flying in ‘V’-shaped groups just above the surface of the sea.
Pickings for the birds must be rich in this area; we could see, right by the ship, shoals of small fish shimmering just below the surface. Occasionally, a bird would swoop down and reach in for a snack… rich pickings indeed! Most birds seemed to be flying in the same direction; towards a small rock located just off the mainland. A glance through the binoculars (the same ones purchased hurriedly in Guiyaquil) confirmed that it was indeed teeming with life.
After lunch, we took the tender boat ashore to escort a tour to Gatun Lake, on the Panama Canal. About one-fifth of the canal, which we will be seeing in its entirety tomorrow, is a man-made lake, through which ships have to navigate.
We left Flamenco Island in several small mini-buses, and followed a road adjacent to the canal. The guide on our bus took us on a short diversion, across Centennial Bridge, the newest of only two bridges that connect North America to South America (A third is in construction at the Caribbean end). As we crossed it, we were able to look down upon the canal and one of the three sets of locks on the canal, before returning to our intended route.
Upon our arrival at Gamboa Marina, we decantered into small boats that took us for a 90-minute tour around part of the lake, which was vaguely reminiscent of a similar boat tour we’ve taken in the Amazon several times. We saw several howler monkeys, a couple of crocodiles and loads of birds.
After the boat trip, we were taken up to the Gamboa Activity Centre where we wandered through an enclosure which is home to some tiny, brightly-coloured, poisonous frogs, and another enclosure full of exotic butterflies. Finally, we took a look at their collection of orchids, where we also saw a toucan in a tree.
The final stop, before heading back to Flamenco Island, was the Gamboa Hotel Resort for a bathroom stop, which would be a magnificent place to stay. Looking down upon the series of swimming pools and further, across the rainforest and Gutan River, guests wandered about in a relaxed manner… heaven knows how much it must cost to stop there, but it was quite impressive.
The tender boat trip from Flamenco Island to the Voyager, anchored out in the bay, took about twenty minutes. Due to the heavy swell, however, it then took a further forty minutes to get everyone off the boat and on board. The ship was rolling and the sea was rising and falling, making the operation quite difficult. At one point, we had to sail away from the ship and have another run at it. Tracey’s tender, which came in after mine, docked and had everyone ashore in about five minutes.
